infoTECH News

[January 08, 2014]

New Study From Forbes Insights Finds Marketers' Use of Internal and External Apps on the Rise

NEW YORK --(Business Wire)--

Forbes Insights today released a report, "The
Connected Marketer: How Apps Are Engaging Customers, Partners and
Employees," produced in association with Adobe (News - Alert) (Nasdaq: ADBE), which
discovered key trends about how senior-level marketers are integrating
apps in the marketing mix to both connect with customers and drive
internal efficiencies. Marketers are taking the lead in this area, with
53% of them designing and deploying apps, both internal- and
external-facing, as part of their marketing and business development
strategies. "Offering customers, partners and employees�apps capable of
delivering a range of services�is now�crucial in this�mobile era," says
Bruce Rogers, Chief Insights Officer and Head of the CMO Practice of
Forbes Media. "This study is relevant to marketers who are integrating
them as a core component of the marketing mix."

The study, which looks at how organizations are creating compelling
mobile strategies to create a cohesive experience for the end-user, was
based on a survey of 302 executives. Forbes Insights also conducted
in-depth interviews to provide context for the findings.

Among the key findings:

Apps are on the rise. A majority of enterprises with
customer-facing apps, 78%, report increases in their mobile app
audiences over the past year. The availability of more services and
content available exclusively through apps is driving this growth.

Use of customer-facing mobile apps is seen as a post-sale loyalty
strategy. Thirty-one percent of respondents say that
customer-facing apps have the greatest impact when maintaining loalty
post-purchase.

Internal apps are driving efficiencies. More than two-thirds of
executives report the number of end-users of their internal apps has
grown over the past year; they see apps playing greater roles in
facilitating sales, communication and training processes as more and
more internal end-users rely on mobile devices to do their jobs.

Most marketing organizations are still on their first apps. Most
organizations have only one to three apps at most. While these are
still early days for corporate app deployments, three-fourths of
executives surveyed reported that their budgets for app development
and deployment are increasing.

App-specific content drives download. Apps require more than
simply scaling down a website to fit a smaller screen. A majority of
those who have seen the number of mobile app users increase, 60%
attribute that to the fact that they are making more exclusive content
available through the apps. Sixty-eight percent of all the respondents
say they are offering exclusive content that cannot be found elsewhere.

User experience is the biggest challenge for marketers. The
ability to design user-friendly interfaces and to keep end-users
interested and returning to the app was seen as the biggest challenge
for marketing executives.

In-app analytics represent opportunity. Forty-four percent of
respondents attempt to measure metrics within the app such as content
views and number of downloads. However, marketers are not yet focusing
on user-interface metrics such as analysis of navigation through the
app, pathing or length of time spent with the app in large numbers yet
-an area that represents opportunity for marketers to gain further
insight into their customers.

"The research we've produced with Forbes Insights indicates that savvy
senior marketers are looking to include apps as a core component of the
marketing mix to connect with customers and employees," says Nick
Bogaty, head of digital publishing, Adobe. "With app audiences and
budgets on the rise, smart brands will use apps to engage with
stakeholders and drive purchase, loyalty and efficiencies in an
immersive, interactive way."

About the research

This survey of 302 executives was conducted in October 2013. Thirty-two
percent of the executives came from North America, 31% from Asia-Pacific
and 30% from Europe. The respondents' companies' had at least $250
million in revenues.

About Forbes Insights

Forbes
Insights is the strategic research and thought leadership practice
of Forbes Media, publisher of Forbes magazine and Forbes.com,
whose combined media properties reach nearly 50 million business
decision makers worldwide on a monthly basis. Taking advantage of a
proprietary database of senior-level executives in the Forbes community,
Forbes Insights conducts research on a host of topics of interest to
C-level executives, senior marketing professionals, small business
owners and those who aspire to positions of leadership, as well as
providing deep insights into issues and trends surrounding wealth
creation and wealth management.